Walked up on this guy taking a nap !

[fortyshooter]

Yeah a long nap! Taking Buster for his usual evening walk and saw this small Copperhead on side of our road along edge of woods. Walk him in that grassy strip all the time too. Most likely would have not seen it in the grass and lucky something got him before we came along! Got to watch out for those things in our neighborhood!

[Vaquero]

Don't care much for those, but from what little I've seen they're not as aggressive as the ole Cottonmouth.
Glad y'all weren't in any danger.

RP

[BrokenolMarine]

Guineas, we have a dozen now. The only things they don't eat are the Taratulas. They give them a wide berth.

[cooperhawk]

I was picking tomatoes in northern Virginia when something hit me on the arm. I never saw it but the doc said it was a copperhead.
It took a while but I got very achy and sick. The doc said it was just a small one so it wouldn't kill me.
I hate snakes!

[Hatchdog]

Man o man, you folks and your snakes. Ugh! I have a resident bull snake maybe 3’ and I startle every time we meet. After my initial start I give it a nice hello and invitation to eat whatever critter is in range.

[dave77]

40 years here on my property and I've only seen a rattlesnake maybe 5 times but my friend got bit by a small one on the top of her foot a couple of weeks ago. Took her to the hospital immediately, she was in extreme pain, they gave her 3 doses of pain meds but they didn't seem to help at all. I guess the pharmacy has to mix the anti-venom so it was well over an hour before she got the first dose. It did help a lot with the pain, they kept her that night and another day to monitor her and she did receive 2 more doses of anti-venom. She's recovered now but it took over a week for the swelling in her foot and leg to go down.

[Mags]

We have Garder (garden) snakes here. There are rattle snakes East of the Cascade mountains, but not here. Too wet.

For a time decades ago lived rural near San Diego. We had a wood stairway to an upper tier of the property with a squirrel den underneath. We got rid of the squirrels cause they were eating the garden only for them be replaced by a den of rattle snakes. Took a few days, but while snakes were sunning on the stairs, chopped them up with a shovel. Mostly baby ones.

Later in life we would camp/hike around Lave Beds Nat'l Monument and Medicine Lake in Northern California. Hiking the trails it was common to have a rattler, trail side, give you a fright as you passed by. The rattle will get your attention.

[Travlin]

I killed a big rattler many years ago that was full of eggs. I thought that was a good days work.

[BrokenolMarine]

I share this story each time the subject comes up, cause I love it. It's a hoot. (now.) This is the condensed version.
I always tell people that Miss Tina is meaner than a snake and I can prove it... In fact, I used to have a T-shirt that said:

My wife is meaner than a snake... "She got bit by a copperhead, and the snake died."
Tru-Dat!

She was in the flower bed in the front yard, pulling weeds out of the mulch, barefoot, and felt a burn on the bottom of her foot. Saw the baby copperhead crawling away. Stomped him into snake paste. I was working a Surviellence three counties away, and she called. Then called the ambulance. We lived in the boonies, so I beat her to the ER by ten minutes.

The ER doc was a snake person and told us that the snake had struck her four times in the ball of her foot, but luckily it appeared to be "mostly" a dry bite. Likely, since it was a juvenile, when she stepped on it, it struck the mulch first, surprised. Babies don't dose their strikes, they empty ALL the venom on the first strike, subsequent immediate strikes only contain the remnants of the remaining venom in the path from the venom sac to the fangs. They have to recoup from the strike. THIS gives birth to the "Old Wives Tale" that baby snake venom is more deadly than adult venom.

They kept her overnight as well, into the next day around lunch, marking the path of the swelling, about halfway up her ankle, amost into her calf. Pain, brusing, swelling, but no splitting of the skin or whatever. You have to be careful, the buggers are GOOD at Camoflauge.... Check it out: Find the Copperhead here. Don't tell if you have seen it before. (I'll post the solution in a day or so.)

copperhead.jpg (363.63 KiB) Viewed 871 times

[fortyshooter]

Took me 30 seconds to spot it and that is too long! My trails in the woods can be well shaded at times and I try to come thru there and clear the leaves and pine tags off the trail.

[BrokenolMarine]

It's well hidden. I have had that pic for about fifteen years, it was in the middle of back yard at the Virginia farm and on the way to the coop... I was looking at it yesterday when I posted it and it's possible, POSSIBLE that there are more than ONE in the picture. I have looked at that pic hundreds of times over the years with dozens of people... I just looked at it from a different angle and there might be one or two more in the pic. I know where the ONE is for sure, I scooped HIM up and tossed him to the rooster... RIP.

[BrokenolMarine]

I'll leave it for a while longer so others can look for him. Squint, close your eyes and then open them quick, hold your tongue just right. The copperheads are masters of camo.

[220]

Took me 15sec to spot it, I dont even bother looking for them here in Aus, if I saw every snake that was nearby I would be too afraid to leave the house. Tiapans, eastern browns, death adders, red bellied blacks, tiger snakes, I think we have half the worlds top 10 most venomous snakes locally, I have a big brown in the orchard I have never seen and dont want to, twice I have found partial shedded skins over 6' and more than 2" across the belly scales.

[BrokenolMarine]

We have ten venomous snakes in Oklahoma, copperheads aren't high on the list. Pygmy Rattlers and Cottonmouths are at the top if I remember correctly. Then add scorpions and tarantulas, giant centipedes ...

Still doesn't compare to down under.

[dave77]

Pretty lucky here, the only venomous snake is the western rattlesnake which is not deadly. Black widows are common here but not aggressive, I know a couple of people who have been bitten by black widows and it is very painful. There are a couple of scorpion species here but they say their sting is about like being stung by a bee.

[BrokenolMarine]

Copperhead revealed. I think there may be another to the right on the one marked. I think I see the same brown hourglass pattern in the grass...

copperhead revealed.jpg (368.17 KiB) Viewed 900 times

[Mags]

Copperhead revealed. I think there may be another to the right on the one marked. I think I see the same brown hourglass pattern in the grass...

I had found the lower part going down toward the tail. But even after marked I still don't see the the middle up to head.

[clovishound]

We have Garder (garden) snakes here. There are rattle snakes East of the Cascade mountains, but not here. Too wet.

I wish that "too wet" worked for us here. We have plenty of rattlesnakes even in the swamps and near the river, although they do prefer the savanna areas and pineland forests . Heck, I've seen them swimming from one side of the river to the other. Granted, the moccasins are much more common in and around the water. And, I would rather deal with a rattlesnake than a moccasin, if I have to deal with one. The rattlesnakes and copperheads I've dealt with don't really seem to want to confront you. I've had moccasins chase me in the water, and even try and climb into the boat.

[cooperhawk]

When I lived in Virginia I once saw a Moccasin come out of the water and chase and guy who had been plinking at it
with a 22.
Man, that snake was fast, but he ran faster.

[clovishound]

I was able to easily out swim the one that chased me in the water. I was wearing all my SCUBA gear, but I believe my fins more than made up for that slowing me down. Plus, I was motivated.